Sport

Sunday, 26 December 2021 16:15

Colliers, coalfields and communism

Written by David Douglass

in Sport

David Douglass review Colliers: Northumberland's Pitmen and Their Football League Team, by Jon Tait, Rough Badger Press ISBN 9798532247727 The coalfields of the 20's were a hotbed of discontent and militant communist agitation. The Bishop of Durham Dr Hensley Henson said that his Durham diocese was the most communistic in…

Saturday, 04 December 2021 10:59

Boxing, crime and capitalism: review of The Bittersweet Science

Written by Daniel Rosenberg

in Sport

Daniel Rosenberg reviews The Bittersweet Science by Gerald Horne, £19.70, $19.95. New York: International Publishers, 2021. It is difficult to defend boxing. It is often brutal, and sometimes deadly. Its less odious, even admirable, traits involve skill, speed, tactics, concentration, and movement. In combination with the strictest safety precautions, and…

Gerald Horne Joe Louis Muhammed Ali

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 02 April 2021 16:01

Building a popular, progressive sporting culture

in Sport

Written by Mark Perryman

Mark Perryman has been reading up on the sport we’ve lost, and what sport might become, as what seems like a never-ending lockdown gradually eases Way back when, during the first lockdown, March ’20, Jonathan Liew wrote a brilliant column on small sport vs big sport. What Jonathan meant by…

Miracle Pill age of fitness where there's a will racquet pitch battles philosophy football st Pauli project restart ultras

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 24 July 2020 10:58

Black Cricketers Matter: Racism, Resistance and the West Indies

in Sport

Written by Sean Ledwith

Sean Ledwith shows how cricket can be a site and a symbol of political liberation as well as of racist, imperialist oppression The First Test between England and West Indies this summer was memorable for a number of reasons. It was the first Test match played in the post-lockdown, new…

Test match George Headley Learie Constantine Gary Sobers Michael Holding Ebony RainfordBrent Jofra Archer

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 13 July 2020 13:40

Changing the rules of the people’s game

in Sport

Written by Martin Cloake

Martin Cloake, in the latest in the joint Morning Star/ Culture Matters series on the Covid-19 pandemic and cultural activities, considers its effects on football and what's needed to improve the game During the COVID-19 pandemic the football business has probably experienced one of the biggest jolts of any business.…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 04 September 2019 18:52

Don't just spectate, agitate! Bury, Bolton, and the capitalist takeover of football

in Sport

Written by Doc Ritchie

Doc Ritchie tells us to resist capitalist accumulation in football by tightening regulation and changing the ownership and management of football clubs. Images courtesy of fan-owned Clapton FC Football is a game owned by billionaires, played by millionaires, and paid for by you. Premier League players have no real relationship…

Wednesday, 17 July 2019 13:44

What do they know of cricket, that only cricket know?

Written by Mark Perryman

in Sport

Mark Perryman criticises the exclusive way some sports are managed, and suggests some progressive policies to bring out all the benefits of sport – for the many, not the few. Cricket’s version of the ‘years of hurt’ – 44 in this case – came to a spectacular end early last…

World Cup CLR James

Thursday, 04 July 2019 09:37

Liberté, Egalité, Velocité: the Bicyclists' Road to Socialism

Written by Mark Perryman

in Sport

As Le Tour begins, Mark Perryman offers up a 5-point transitional programme for a cycling revolution It's July – the month when since 2012 first Wiggins, then Froome, and last year Thomas, turn Le Maillot Jaune into Le Maillot Britannique. Or in Thomas’ case Le Maillot Gallois. And on the…

Wednesday, 17 April 2019 17:16

Culture Punch: reforming the videogames industry

Written by Paul Victor Tims

in Sport

Paul V. Tims looks at the games industry from a socialist perspective It probably won’t surprise my regular readers to learn that I love videogames. What better way to escape the turgid, late-capitalist nightmare-world we all inhabit than by stepping into an entire other life where you’re an infinitely-customisable mass…

Sunday, 09 December 2018 21:56

Killing the FA Cup by the pound

Written by Martin Cloake

in Sport

Martin Cloake criticises the power of TV money over football, and the failure of governance arrangements to protect the integrity of the game. Tranmere Rovers or Southport, will play, Tottenham Hotspur. It’s the kind of draw that makes the FA Cup third round special. League Two or National League North…